By Eddie on
Tackling the big issues first as we draw close to Hollywood’s night of nights, it’s an absolute travesty/oversight (crime!) that Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve wasn’t nominated for Best Director in this years Oscars, with it hard to fathom how the man behind such a stunningly audacious sci-fi epic could overlooked when in that same category you have the likes of James Mangold who directed the quite good but far from a directing masterclass A Complete Unknown in the spot of 5 filmmakers who made the final cut.
It’s also stunning in a debatably negative way that the divisive Emilia Perez has waltzed into the record books with a eye-popping 13 nominations. An occurrence one feels will be linked similarly to the likes of The Danish Girl and Crash in the years to come as a genuinely odd decision by the Academy to get excited about films that are perhaps more about the subject matters than the actual end product.
The minor but bizarre shutting out of tennis drama Challengers not appearing in the Best Original Score category also seems like a mistake on all fronts, but hopefully a win for the deserving The Wild Robot in that category can help overcome a sense of loss.
Outside of that it’s hard to argue that this is an otherwise fairly uninteresting Oscar season with American epic The Brutalist the most likely to triumph in key fields while European animation Flow and Demi Moore’s potential Best Actress wins the best stories to perhaps play out on the night.
Many would also be pleased with the fact that horror has once more found its rightful place in proceedings with films like Hereditary and Midsommar being shunned in recent years its fantastic to see the likes of The Substance and Nosferatu be welcomed into some big categories, showcasing that Academy voters aren’t afraid to recognise genre outings that have sometimes been disregarded purely by what they are in nature.
Below are my final (totally uneducated) predictions for how the night plays out.
Happy watching and see you on the red carpet!
Best Picture
Coming out of nowhere, The Brutalist appears to be the film to beat at this years Oscars
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave*
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet delivered another knock-out/awards worthy turn as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave*
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Best Actress
One of the stories of 2024 is Demi Moore’s comeback in The Substance, an Oscar looks well within her grasp.
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez*
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Best Supporting Actor
One of the most sure-things of this years ceremony is Kieran Culkin walking away with a win.
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist*
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Best Supporting Actress
Pop superstar Ariana Grande was a revelation in Wicked.
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist*
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Best Directing
A quiet achiever, director Sean Baker seeks Oscar glory for his work on Anora.
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez*
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Best Adapted Screenplay
Sing Sing was one of the films of 2024 and could be a genuine dark horse in multiple categories
A Complete Unknown
Conclave*
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
Best Original Screenplay
Shut out of most fields, September 5 gets some attention for its one and only nomination
Anora*
The Brutalist
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance
Best International Feature
With a record breaking 13 nominations, Emilia Perez is going to head home with some awards
I’m Still Here*
The Girl With the Needle
Emilia Pérez
The Seed of a Sacred Fig
Flow
Best Animated Feature
While The Wild Robot would be a worthy winner, the little film that could Flow looks set to be an underdog story for the ages here.
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot*
Best Documentary Feature
No Other Land is the documentary to beat this year.
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane*
Technical Categories
Best Editing
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave*
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
Best Cinematography
The Brutalist
Dune: Part Two*
Emilia Pérez
Maria
Nosferatu
Best Production Design
The Brutalist
Conclave*
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked
Best Costume Design
A Complete Unknown
Conclave*
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked
Best Original Score
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot*
Best Original Song
El Mal, Emilia Pérez
The Journey, The Six Triple Eight
Like a Bird, Sing Sing
Mi Camino, Emilia Pérez*
Never Too Late, Elton John: Never Too Late
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu*
The Substance
Wicked
Best Sound
A Complete Unknown*
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
Best Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes*
Wicked
Wins Leaderboard
1. The Brutalist = 7
2. Emilia Perez = 4
3. Dune: Part 2 = 3
4. The Substance = 2
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys) 
I think it’s a quite possible prediction. “I’m still here” could probably win the best international picture.
That would be great mate, anything that beats Emilia is good for the awards, it’s bizarre that film has become such a huge hit with the academy. I can’t wait to see I’m Still Here.
E
Great take, Eddie! Villeneuve’s snub for Dune: Part Two is shocking, and Emilia Pérez’s 13 nominations will definitely spark debates. Loving the horror love this year—Nosferatu and The Substance finally give the genre its due. Can’t wait for Oscar night!
Hope you enjoyed Chef!
E
With Substance the genre spot has been filled which is a bad luck for Dune. I agree it is underrepresented, but so was Star Wars. That one year The Dark Knight got a bunch of technical nominations but not for the movie or director.
It’s great they added a new category for animated feature but that decision took so long I don’t expect anything to be done about more inclusive genre films before 2050!
I can’t help but shake the feeling it’s a shame Dune 2 didn’t get more love. Perhaps if it came out later in the year might have struck more of a chord with voters but oh well…
E
Academy is in love with biopics and war themed dramas which explains also this year’s choices.
I Think Mikey Madison would be Good Choice as Rogue In MCU
I watched and loved the show.
Glad you enjoyed it mate, it certainly went for some time!
E